According to the decree, the new FiT system will apply 45 days after the publication by the Italian Authority for Energy and Gas (AEEG) of the notice that the annual aggregate value of FiT payments for PV plants in Italy has reached the €6 billion threshold. PV plants that start operations on or before 31 December 2012 will fall under the new FiT unless they are installed on property belonging to the Public Administration, in which case they will continue to be eligible for the FiT under the Conto Energia IV.

Given that the 6 billion threshold has been reached on the 12th of July, the new incentives will be applied from the 27th of August.

The total annual expenditure ceiling for incentives has been set to €700 million and the incentives for new photovoltaic systems will stop anyway when the total cumulative expenditure has reached 6.7 billion.

Under the new Conto Energia V, in order to be eligible for the FiT, ordinary PV projects (Systems above 12 kW included) must be registered with the Gestore dei Servizi Energetici (GSE) and ranked according to certain priority criteria in order to fall within the following budgets: a first registration period will issue €140 million in incentives; when this sum has been exhausted, a second registration period will distribute €120 million; and there may be other quota of €80 million each, until the total expenditure of €6.7 billion is reached.

In the register, priority will be given according to the following ordering criteria: systems installed in place of asbestos roofs; systems installed on energetically upgraded buildings; systems installed with components manufactured entirely in EU/EEA member states; systems installed on contaminated sites, owned by the armed forces or exhausted dumps and mines; systems installed with power of no greater than 200 kW serving productive activities; and systems installed in this order: on greenhouses, pergolas, canopies, cantilevered roofs, acoustic barriers.

Registration will not be required and direct access to the subsidy will be possible for the following systems: those between 12 and 20 kWp that accept an incentive 20% lower; those up to 50 kW installed in place of asbestos roofs; integrated photovoltaic systems with innovative features (up to an indicative total cost of €50 million); concentrated systems (always within the €50 million ceiling); and those on public administration's buildings and land (provided they are constructed subsequent to a public call for tenders and again in this case within an expenditure ceiling of €50 million).

The incentive tariffs are divided into two components: an "all inclusive" tariff valid only for the energy sent to the grid and a premium for self-consumption, valid only for energy consumed on site.

Systems below 20 kW installed in place of asbestos roofing will have the right to an additional premium on the incentive of €30/MWh for the whole of 2013, €20 for 2014 and €10 from 2015 and beyond. For systems “made in Europe” and those greater than 20 kW replacing asbestos roofing, the premium is €20/MWh for the whole of 2013, €10 for 2014, and €5 from 2015.

For systems with a power greater than 1 MW, the all inclusive tariff for every kilowatt hour sent to the grid will be decreased by the local hourly price of the electricity sent to the grid, but the electricity produced will remain available to the plant manager.